Clinical efficacy of different frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for tardive dyskinesia

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of different frequency of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)on tardive dyskinesia (TD). Methods Schizophrenia combined with antipsychotic-induced TD were screened. All patients were planed to receive 1Hz or 10Hz rTMS for 4 weeks in which two weeks’ break was inserted at end of 2nd weekend. The curative effect and side effects were assessed by abnormal involuntary movement scale(AIMS) and rating scale for extrapyramidal side effects(RSESE) respectively at before and after treatment. Results In the 1Hz group, only Involuntary movements of the upper extremities were improved after rTMS treatment (before treatment 2.6±1.0, after treatment 1.8±1.1), the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). But in 10Hz group, upper extremities(before treatment 1.9±1.2, 0.8±0.9 after treatment), mouth(before treatment 1.0±0.8, after treatment 0.3±0.5), tongue(before treatment 2.6±0.9, after treatment 1.7±0.9), and total score(before treatment 7.7±3.0, after treatment 4.2±1.7) significantly decreased after rTMS treatment(P <0.05 or <0.01). In addition, the reduction rates in both the lower extremities and the total score was statistically different between the two groups (P<0.05 ). Conclusion rTMS can reduce the symptom of involuntary movement of TD patients and 10Hz rTMS is better. Key words: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS); Schizophrenia; Tardive dyskinesia(TD); Efficacy